How Kodak intends to wipe the floor with HP

EASTMAN KODAK, the company best known for film and pretty photos, has decided to enter the consumer inkjet market. Needless to say, it's picking a fight with HP - but one it is confident it can win.

Kodak has announced the Easyshare All-in-One printer line today and they're doing a big launch in the Big Apple at NBC Studios with CEO Antonio Perez with special guest Molly Shannon doing something or other. The company is announcing hardware, yes, but it's the underlying philosophy of razors and blades, er printers and ink, that is the real story.

How does it intend to dethrone the reigning king of inkjets? Price and quality. Kodak is underlining the fact that the company has been in the bulk chemicals business and printing for oh, since it started, while HP has been in the calculator business. This means Kodak intends to start offering ink jet refills at around half the price of the competition. A cartridge of black ink will cost $9.99 while a five ink colour cartridge will cost $15, so Kodak is saying a 4 x 6 inch photo will cost as little as 10 cents a print.

Cost is a great start, but Kodak is pounding the table consumers will get a better print due to the company's Kodakcolor technology built into the Easyashare process. You start with pigment-based inks, add micro-porous photo paper, colour and image science, then finish with a MEMS print head to deliver high-quality and long lasting sharp and vibrant photos.

Exactly how good will, no doubt, be a matter of some discussion between HP and Kodak marketing people for the next year or so.

Hardware on the Easyshare series is priced to move. The entry level 5100 starts at $150 and includes print, scan, and copy capabilities, and Pictbridge support. Print speed is up to 32 pages per minute in black and 22 pages per minute in color. One bump up, the 5300 costs $200 and adds a three-inch colour LCD with the ability to view and crop photos directly on the printer, plus memory card slots for printing without a PC. At the top of the line, the Easyshare 5600 lists at $300 and includes fax support, a 2.4-inch colour LCD display, automatic document feeder, and a duplexer attachment.

The 5100 and 5300 printers hit Best Buy shelves exclusively in March 2007, while the 5500 is expected to begin shipping in May 2007.

Let battle commence. µ

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Kodak takes on HP with low cost printer ink